Many travelers on the I-17 would just zip right past Black Canyon City without a second thought, but for those leisurely types that love to explore obscure places this area is worth stopping for. About 45 minutes north of Phoenix, Black Canyon City is the home of Rock Springs Cafe known worldwide for its delicious, huge pie selection. The cafe is just one part of the Rock Springs Village (located at 35900 S. Old Black Canyon Hwy.) which was originally established as a hotel in 1918 and has been an important Arizona landmark ever since.
The complex includes the cafe, a general store, the adjacent Pie Box Bakery, the Gas Depot, and the year-round Christmas Store. While the cafe is well recommended, with a wide array of breakfast, lunch, and dinner entrees – the pies are the most popular eats! There are numerous fruit, creme, and specialty pies to choose from (over 20 flavors!) and this writer loves the Banana Creme and Peach pies the most! Some flavors are also available to be shipped. For more information check out their website rockspringscafe.com
Aside from the Rock Springs Village on the outskirts of town, Black Canyon City still has a few significant buildings that remain from its beginning as a rough little frontier town in the early 1870s. It started out as a Wells Fargo stagecoach stop on the dusty, challenging Black Canyon Trail between Phoenix and Prescott some 40 years before Arizona achieved statehood. It should have been an ideal area for filming westerns back in the day, but that distinction belongs more to places like Sedona, Tortilla Flat, Apache Junction etc. which are featured in my previous Armchair Travelogue posts.
In any case, the Black Canyon Historical Society operates out of the old 1926 schoolhouse in Heritage Park at 33955 S. Old Black Canyon Hwy to obtain more information about the Wells Fargo Stagecoach stop and other historic points of interest. For those who love out-of-the-way places that have an irresistible charm all their own – definitely drop by the Black Canyon City / Rock Springs area for a couple hours and check it out!
For further information go the following websites: http://rockspringscafe.com also visit: http://blackcanyonaz.org
